Calathian

The many peoples of the Calathis Archipelago.

Written by starzomskiwrites

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The primary languages found among the islands of Calathis are Aquan, Draconic, Elvish, and Sylvan. Post-colonization, the Kenerese tongue is being forced upon the people.

Common Dress code

Calathians typically clad themselves in very little clothing, though when clothing is found to be necessary they sport animal pelts, woven fabrics, and jewlery crafted of shells, rare stones, and wood. Calathians also sport body paint made of natural pigments or tattoos detailing familial and cultural myths and stories inked with safe inks.

Art & Architecture

The Calathians are an incredibly artistic and creative people, expressing themselves through song, dance, and painting. Many oral traditions and legends of the Calathian people are told through a combination of instrumentally accompanied song & practiced ritual dance. Such legends are shared and told at many celebratory events, such as the coming of age ceremonies among Calathian children, or the myriad of festivals and thanksgivings to the Ternary.
Throughout the Calathian islands, animal pelts and cave walls are marked with paintings of Calathian stories and legends, both ancient tales or modern successes. These paints are often created with not only berries, mud and other natural pigments, but also illusion magic granted to Calathian priests, bards and artists by their worship of the Ternary and their own growing skill.

Foods & Cuisine

The Calathian diet is very omnivorous, formed of the many fruits and meats found among the archipelago. Permanent Calathian settlements developing and mastering agriculture in partnership with the land, whereas nomadic tribes forage for berries and scale trees for their flowering bounties. Animal husbandry is not practiced among the Calathians, as domesticating animals is seen as removing them from their natural habitats, so Calathians must hunt for their meat. When an animal is slain, every part of it is used effectively so as to show respect for what the Ternary has given them. Many of those parts are used by clerics and druids in riruals & offerings to the Ternary, and others are used as tools or for works of art.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

When a Calathian child is born, they are bathed in fresh water blessed by M'uliwai, the aspect of Mea'kanu who represents the rivers and lakes of Calathis, and then given the name of the most recently deceased member of the village. This is a ceremonial activity, where the close blood family of the newest-born and the newest-dead come together to anoint the child in M'uliwai's waters and celebrate new life in the village.

Coming of Age Rites

When a Calathian child comes of age for their species, set at a benchmark of 13 years for those of human lifespan, they are given the opportunity to choose whether they wish to keep the name given to them by the families that anointed them, or whether they wish to give themselves a new name more reflective of their own experience that they will carry until death and to be given to the next child born after they die. This is also where a child divines the aspect of Mea'kanu that will represent them through life in a ritual called a "Mea'ike," or "Nature's Revelation."

Funerary and Memorial customs

When a Calathian dies, if it is in a way where a body remains, that body is burned along with several other offerings to Mea'kanu in a practice called "Meakaho'i," or "Return to Nature" in Aquan. It is a belief among Calathians that when one's body is offered up to Mea'kanu, their soul will return to her. She will take that soul's memories, in turn enriching her own divine life experience, and give it new life in the next child born in the deceased's clan, who is often given the name of the deceased in their honor. These Meakaho'i are jovial times of celebration to share song & dance stories about the life of the deceased and celebrate their life, rather than a somber time to mourn their loss.

Common Taboos

The greatest taboo among the Calathian people is that of disrespect towards nature and its patron Mea'kanu. Those who speak blasphemy in Mea'kanu's name or desecrate nature purposefully are stripped of their name and possessions and exiled from their settlement, forced to survive alone in the elements. Many of these exiled, known as "Kipakuia," attempt to find others of their ilk to form new clans and survive in their harsh conditions. Few still turn to darker magics and more vengeful and feared aspects of Mea'kanu in attempts to gain power and take revenge on the village that exiled them.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

In Calathian culture, men and women are viewed of equal importance. Women are important as mothers and spiritual leaders of their clans and villages, while men are important as hunters and physical leaders. Calathian society is often matriarchal, but men are not viewed as any less than women despite this fact.
Occasionally, some elves are born androgynously. These elves are not seen as having the responsibilities of either men or women, but are seen as living aspects of Mea'kanu, and are revered for their spiritual importance and deep connection to the goddess and her aspects. Some of them even boast the ability to communicate directly with the goddess, providing their clans and villages with her prophecies and omens, or manifesting innate magical abilities from their divine connections.

Major organizations

Governmentally, the Calathians were originally under their own independent self-governance, but over the last few decades have been being colonized by the Kenereth Empire. Many Calathians do attempt to preserve their clans and their culture, though this has not been easy. Some dissident Calathians who have lost their clans have organized into the Wrathbound Circle, a clan bent on revenge against the Kenerese. Unchecked, the relationship between the Wrathbound and the colonizers could blossom into a full-on war, and potentially a Calathian genocide.
Religiously, the Calathians used to worship their nature goddess Mea'kanu, their goddess of nature, through many different aspects of the gifts she brings to the land. After the colonizing efforts of the Empire, worship of Mea'kanu has been outlawed in favor of the Empire's organized religions.

Related Locations

• The Calathis Archipelago